"Recent spectrum auction results will lead to accelerated investments by operators in data network expansion and we see growth in the next six months," Sameer Sinha, chief sales & marketing officer at Indus Towers, India's leading telecom tower company, told ET.

Indus "would either set up more towers or add tenancies" in line with data network expansion strategies of operators, he said. The company's current tenancy ratio is 2.19. Tenancy ratio refers to the average number of operators that have put up antennae and other infrastructure on the towers.

Syed Safawi, CEO of Viom Networks, India's second-largest tower firm, said the previous auction had "re-energised the sector" and promised to open up opportunities for tower firms since "operators were likely to focus on service quality and high-speed data to monetise sizeable spectrum investments."

Since India's top three telcos - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular - have collectively committed 77% of the recent Rs 1.098 lakh crore auction proceeds, Safawi expects "Viom to further increase incumbent operator share" in its tenancies. "Incumbent operator share in Viom's tenancies has jumped 10% in the last three years and we expect similar trends, post-spectrum auctions, with a significant increase in data sites, including standalone sites for 3G and 4G," said Safawi in an e-mailed response to ET's queries. Viom's present tenancy ratio is 2.4.

American Tower Corp agreed that tower companies would benefit from new tenancy opportunities as carriers, equipped with new spectrum, look to expand into new areas. "With carriers winning back 900 MHz and also gaining additional spectrum, this will initially reflect in upgrades for their existing 2G sites, but over the medium term, lead to new sites which will benefit tower companies," said Amit Sharma, EVP & president at ATC India. The Indian unit of the US tower firm has a tenancy ratio of 1.95.

Bharti Infratel did not respond to ET's queries. Analysts expect Bharti's tower arm to see a rise in its tenancy ratio to 2.42 by FY17. "With spectrum holdings of the industry up 27%, we expect Bharti Infratel to benefit from a rise in tenancy and 3G/4G loading driven by data growth," Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients.

Analysts at brokerage CLSA agreed since "bulk of the accelerated network rollouts would come from the top-3 incumbents (Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea) who are not only Bharti Infratel's anchor tenants, but have also dominated 3G/4G spectrum wins in the last auction." CLSA expects Infratel's tenancy ratio to reach 2.6 over FY15-18, "driving a 15% Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation) CAGR and 22% earnings CAGR." The company's tenancy ratio was 2.1 as of December 2014.

Mohit Rana, partner at consultancy firm AT Kearney, expects initial tenancy growth to be fuelled by telcos which added 3G airwaves in the 2100 MHz band, and eventually by 4G bandwidth winners. "In the medium term, 4G will drive tenancies," he noted.

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After PSU banks, the government is likely to infuse capital in two chronically ill telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL, and the Union Cabinet is likely to take a decision on 4G spectrum allocation to them by the third week of the current month after DoT places the note before it for consideration.

At a high-level meeting at the PMO late Tuesday, it was also decided that the two telcos will frame a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to reduce their employee strength, which will be followed by a reduction in the retirement age to 58.